I wasn’t sure to write about this place at the beginning. Basically my kissaten posts are about old cafés still operating until now. I want to give information about these places in English so people also interested in coffee culture in Japan and old coffee shops can easily find what they are looking for.
But Marimo stopped its business last year… I was wondering to myself for almost 3 months if I should write about this place and what I could actually write… And finally I decided to just share my memories about this kissaten with you.
Marimo had a special place in my heart. Few months ago when the owner announced that the cafe would close on the 20th December 2017, a lot of former customers, mostly Keio University students, decided to visit the store one last time to remember about the good old times there.

This kissaten started its business in 1979 (showa 54) and lasted for 38 years. Where before you could find the rice store of the father’s owner, the kissaten « Marimo » was born. Mister Masayoshi Kato, wanted to make a place which could grow, last long and make people gathering together, as he perfectly pick-up the name « Marimo » (a Japanese moss ball you can find in lake which will grow over the years). I heard that at the beginning it wasn’t so easy but as soon as Kato-san hired a handsome tennis player from Keio University for a part-time, the place started to grow on popularity. Later on, few students were working there as part-timers as well. I heard that girls went to Marimo a lot at that time, as the waiters were known for being quite handsome and popular.
Over the years, this place became emblematic of Hiyoshi. Everyone knew about the red bricks building with a nice showa feeling full of students. The napolitan pasta and the shrimp pilaf rice were popular among students and the place was bustling. Drama, movies and few commercials were even filmed there!

I really enjoyed the place so much, I have a lot of memories here. But when I didn’t have to come to Hiyoshi anymore, I didn’t visit this coffee store anymore. Not even once. I felt this place couldn’t disappear. It was part of Hiyoshi history and identity, so I never thought I would come to say goodbye.
I was really surprised to hear that the place was going to close. So I decided to go there one more time.

So on a sunday morning in last december, I drank coffee there one last time, remembering that once the place was full and very lively. I used to drink a lot of this 400-yen coffee. Closing my eyes, I remember eating a tuna toast and a purin before going back home after staying here to read for few hours.

I said good-bye to this place properly and thanked it for the nice memories and the good coffee I had while studying hard.

Since then I didn’t go to Hiyoshi. I feel like I don’t want to see the place really disappearing and a big 5 floors building taking its place. But a part of me is happy for Mister Kato. He worked hard, brought us a lot of joy and a place we where happy to gather at. I want to thank him and I hope that he will enjoy his retirement at its fullest.

Writing this article filled my heart with emotion. It makes me feel like working harder on this blog to share with you the amazing old coffee shops existing in Tokyo and all over Japan. I guess in the future a lot of them will probably disappear but I don’t want to feel sad or disappointed anymore about that. I just want to show my gratitude to people operating these places and working hard to keep it open. And if the future one of these kissaten will close I just want to be able to visit it again, one last time, to thank and say good-bye to the place properly.

Once again, Marimo, thank you so much for the good coffee, the nice memories and the hours spent here to study or enjoy with my friends.